Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-09-06

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries, people do not recycle their rubbish as much as they could.

Why do you think this is?

What can be done to change this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Generally, there are three types of waste produced in households. First, organic waste, which includes vegetable and fruit waste. Second, Garbage which is all kind of unnecessary stuffs and last is recyclable waste, such as cardboard boxes and plastic bottles. People often ignoring the recycle waste to sort it out from garbage, and they consider as garbage.

There are a few reasons that householders are not serious about recycling waste. The foremost reason is that their town has no facilities for such waste collection. Therefore, they do not have the habit of separating recyclable things. Also, they are avoiding going to the recycle facilities. The best solution for this situation, government should start separate waste collection bins, and it is different from the regular garbage bin, like blue for recyclable waste and black for all types of waste excluding organic waste.

Recycled waste produce less amount in routine life. So, people have the mindset that it will be easy to mix it with garbage rather than separate out that small amount. To overcome this situation, It should be some rewards provided who separate the recyclable materials. For example, convinient store or liquor stores should give reward points or discounts on their product who bring empty bottles or cans, because lots of waste occurs from these kinds of shops.

Overall, Government and schools should encourage people to teach and explain the benefits of recycling waste and we need to understand that recycling the waste is helpful for our environment. Also, it is not a single person’s responsibility, but we are all included in this process.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for low recycling rates and potential solutions. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. While you mention a lack of facilities and the 'mindset' of convenience, these points are not fully extended with detailed explanations or deeper analysis. The introduction is slightly off-topic as it focuses on defining waste types rather than setting up the argument. To reach a higher band, ensure each paragraph provides a clear, well-supported argument that directly answers the 'why' and 'how' components of the prompt with more depth.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The essay is organised into paragraphs, which helps the reader follow the structure. However, the use of cohesive devices is often mechanical or missing. For instance, the transition between the definition of waste and the reasons for not recycling is abrupt. Some sentences lack logical flow, such as 'Recycled waste produce less amount in routine life,' which makes the connection to the subsequent argument about convenience difficult to follow. Improving the use of linking words (e.g., 'consequently,' 'furthermore,' 'in contrast') would help create a smoother progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task but lacks precision and variety. You rely on basic terms like 'garbage' and 'things' repeatedly. There are also some awkward collocations and word choices, such as 'people often ignoring the recycle waste' (should be 'ignore') and 'convinient store' (spelling error). To improve, try to incorporate more topic-specific vocabulary related to environmental issues, such as 'sustainability,' 'waste management infrastructure,' 'incentivise,' or 'environmental impact.' Expanding your range will help you express your ideas with greater clarity and sophistication.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay contains a mix of simple and some complex sentence structures, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. Common issues include subject-verb agreement ('Recycled waste produce'), missing articles ('the government'), and awkward phrasing ('It should be some rewards provided'). Punctuation is also inconsistent, particularly with comma usage. While the meaning is generally understandable, the frequency of these errors prevents the writing from reaching a higher band. Focusing on sentence construction and proofreading for basic subject-verb agreement will significantly improve your accuracy.

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